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2 Colorized cover are for web display only. Most covers printed in black and white.

3 Colorized cover are for web display only. Most covers printed in black and white. Drama/Comedy. By Nancy Linehan Charles. Based on the play by William Shakespeare. Cast: 2m., 2w., 11 either gender. William Shakespeare was big on what can happen if you make the wrong move. And in his world that meant letting greed, jealousy, power and revenge get out of hand. He was always telling his audience, Pick your friends well watch whom you listen to. Well, Hamlet listens to a ghost and makes his choices. The ghost tells him to get even with his uncle who, by the way, deserves it, and everybody ends up very dead. Three wise, sassy, irreverent storytellers relay this story and, believe it or not, make you laugh at the craziness of the human condition and gasp at the universality of human behavior whether in 15th-century Denmark or 21st-century (pick any city on the planet!). There are big chunks of Shakespeare s language juxtaposed to kid vernacular. It s a rich soup served up to make Mr. Shakespeare part of the playground landscape. The Bard s cautionary tale will send your audience home asking new questions about their contemporary world. Simple staging. Approximate running time: 50 minutes. Code H94. Photos: Pacific Resident Theatre, Venice, Calif., featuring (front) Elijah Atmore and (back) Jacob Varela and Alicia Maldonado. Photo: Camille Browne. Cover design: Jeanette Alig-Sergel ISBN ISBN Dramatic Publishing 311 Washington St. Woodstock, IL ph: Printed on recycled paper

4 HAMLET or Does Fa ther Reeeeeeally Know Best? Adapted from Shake speare s play by NANCY LINEHAN CHARLES Dra matic Pub lishing Woodstock, Il li nois Eng land Aus tra lia New Zea land

5 *** NO TICE *** The am a teur and stock act ing rights to this work are con trolled ex clu - sively by THE DRA MATIC PUB LISHING COM PANY with out whose per mis sion in writ ing no per for mance of it may be given. Roy alty must be paid ev ery time a play is per formed whether or not it is pre sented for profit and whether or not ad mis sion is charged. A play is per formed any time it is acted be fore an au di ence. Cur rent roy alty rates, ap pli ca tions and re stric tions may be found at our Web site: or we may be con tacted by mail at: DRA MATIC PUB LISHING COM - PANY, 311 Wash ing ton St., Woodstock IL COPY RIGHT LAW GIVES THE AU THOR OR THE AU THOR S AGENT THE EX CLU SIVE RIGHT TO MAKE COPIES. This law pro - vides au thors with a fair re turn for their cre ative ef forts. Au thors earn their liv ing from the roy al ties they re ceive from book sales and from the per for mance of their work. Con sci en tious ob ser vance of copy right law is not only eth i cal, it en cour ages au thors to con tinue their cre ative work. This work is fully pro tected by copy right. No al ter ations, de le tions or sub sti tu tions may be made in the work with out the prior writ ten con sent of the pub lisher. No part of this work may be re pro duced or trans mit ted in any form or by any means, elec tronic or me chan i cal, in clud ing pho to - copy, re cord ing, vid eo tape, film, or any in for ma tion stor age and re trieval sys tem, with out per mis sion in writ ing from the pub lisher. It may not be per formed ei ther by pro fes sion als or am a teurs with out pay ment of roy - alty. All rights, in clud ing, but not lim ited to, the pro fes sional, mo tion pic - ture, ra dio, tele vi sion, vid eo tape, for eign lan guage, tab loid, rec i ta tion, lec - tur ing, pub li ca tion and read ing, are re served. For per for mance of any songs, mu sic and re cord ings men tioned in this play which are in copy right, the per mis sion of the copy right own ers must be ob tained or other songs and re cord ings in the pub lic do main sub sti tuted. MMVIII by NANCY LINEHAN CHARLES Printed in the United States of Amer ica All Rights Re served (HAM LET or Does Fa ther Reeeeeeally Know Best?) ISBN:

6 IM POR TANT BILLING AND CREDIT RE QUIRE MENTS All pro duc ers of the play must give credit to the au thor of the play in all pro grams dis trib uted in con nec tion with per for mances of the play and in all in stances in which the ti tle of the play ap pears for pur poses of ad ver - tis ing, pub li ciz ing or oth er wise ex ploit ing the play and/or a pro duc tion. The name of the au thor must also ap pear on a sep a rate line, on which no other name ap pears, im me di ately fol low ing the ti tle, and must ap pear in size of type not less than fifty per cent the size of the ti tle type. Bio graph i - cal in for ma tion on the au thor, if in cluded in the playbook, may be used in all pro grams. In all pro grams this no tice must ap pear: Pro duced by spe cial ar range ment with THE DRA MATIC PUB LISHING COM PANY of Woodstock, Il li nois * * * * The orig i nal pro duc tion of HAM LET or Does Fa ther Reeeeeeally Know Best? was made pos si ble through the gen er ous con tri bu - tions of Pa cific Res i dent Thea tre, Ven ice, Ca lif. Thank you to Greg Parkos, Clabe and Thea Hartley, Aldis Browne, Charles Dougherty and Mary Lou Belli, Mr. and Mrs. Stephan Betz, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Beck, Mr. and Mrs. Ron ald Sherouse, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Beddor, Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Kilner.

7 HAM LET or Does Fa ther Reeeeeeally Know Best? was first pro duced at Mark Twain Mid dle School in Mar Vista, Ca lif., on April 17, It sub se quently moved to Pa cific Res i dent Thea - tre in Ven ice on May 3, 2008, with the fol low ing cast: Sto ry tellers...barbara Betancourt Steph a nie Machado Brian Menjivar Ghost of Ham let s Fa ther...donna Feria Ham let...eli jah Atmore Clau dius...isa iah Eisendorf Ger trude...abeli Hernandez Polonius...Ja cob Varela Laertes...Da vid Monterrubio Ophelia...Alicia Maldonado Marcellus....Edwin Graciano Horatio...Brian Menjivar Grave diggers/players...jas mine Daboul Shir ley Lopez Pro ducer...candi Lira Cos tumes...april Clem ens Set...Nor man Scott Lighting...Fa bian Ro dri guez Asst. Di rec tor/fight Cho re og ra pher... Will Rothhaar Di rected by...mi chael Rothhaar Spe cial thanks to: Aldis Browne, Clabe and Thea Hartley, Greg Parkos, Pa cific Res i dent Thea tre and maryjane, Kate Kausch, Mariel Roderiguez, Ricci Luca, Dr. Mary Reid, Con nie Vandergriff, Ron Thiel, Ric Lira, Kent Clem ens, Toni Boyette and the par ents of all the ac tors. 4

8 ADAP TOR S NOTE I dis cov ered early on that kids hear Shake speare through their hearts. They hear it on a level to which, sadly, many adults and of ten very ac a dem i cally ac com plished adults are tone-deaf. Some one who works on an in tu itive level with Shake speare s lan guage ex plained this to me: that Shake speare writes mostly in iam bic pen tam e ter, which rhythm sounds like a heart beat ba-bom, ba-bom, ba-bom. Five of these to a line. Hear ing their heart beat more clearly than per haps us jaded adults, chil dren re spond in stinc tively to the song. I be gan search ing years ago for ways to bring the sto ries of Shake speare and a good chunk of the lan guage to chil - dren. When my youn ger son Will (named af ter Shake - speare) was in the fifth grade, I adapted Macbeth to the stage for a school fund-raiser. I called it Macbeth, Ac cord - ing to the Fifth Grade. It was a run away hit. So much so, we moved it to a pro fes sional venue for five week ends and made $4500 for the tiny, strug gling pub lic school that had orig i nated the pro duc tion. I was off and run ning. I ve since adapted five of Shake - speare s plays for kids all pub lished through Dra matic Pub lishing. Ham let is par tic u larly close to my heart be cause at thirteen, I stum bled into a re hearsal of that play and fell in - stantly in love. I re mem ber what I was wear ing, I re mem - ber the tex ture of the car pet I was stand ing on. No, I did n t un der stand the words im me di ately, but it sang! I was never the same again. I fell for act ing and Shake speare in the same in stant and knew what I wanted to do with my life. 5

9 I know this stuff works. I ve had the su preme plea sure of watch ing kin der gart ners race to the play ground to gather sticks from Birnham Wood and pre pare to slay the evil Macbeth right af ter hear ing the Bard s story. I ve heard mid dle-schoolers quot ing Iago in the hall way be tween classes; and one teen age girl at her locker in a south cen tral Los An geles high school was heard to re buff her boy friend with Hermia s ex act words to Lysander in Mid sum mer Night s Dream: LIE.FURTHER OFF!!! If I could be the lady who brought Shake speare to kids, I would die a happy woman! 6

10 HAM LET or Does Fa ther Reeeeeeally KnowBest? CHAR AC TERS HAM LET...prince of Den mark CLAU DIUS. Ham let s un cle and cur rent king of Den mark GER TRUDE...Ham let s mother and queen of Den mark OLD HAM LET (GHOST)....for mer king of Den mark: Ham let s fa ther POLONIUS... old, trusted ad vi sor to Dan ish Roy alty; a lit tle dotty LAERTES...a col lege stu dent and son of Polonius OPHELIA...daugh ter of Polonius and sis ter of Laertes HORATIO...Ham let s best friend from col lege MARCELLUS...a sol dier in the cas tle 2 PLAYERS 2 GUARDS/2 GRAVE DIGGERS (played by the same ac tors, if need be) 3 STO RY TELL ERS (can be male or fe male: the names can be changed) Cross-gen der cast ing is pos si ble and, in deed, en cour aged. Only Ham let and Clau dius should be male; Ophelia and Ger trude should be fe male. Ev ery one else can be crossc a s t, g e n d e r- w i s e. We u s u a l l y c a s t e v e r y o n e w h o a u d i - tions what cas tle could n t use a few more court iers? 7

11 HAM LET or Does Fa ther Reeeeeeally Know Best? AT RISE: As the au di ence en ters the school or thea tre lobby, there is a GHOST wan der ing among them. The GHOST should be wear ing a hel met (see back notes to learn how to make a cheap hel met out of a plas tic gal - lon milk con tainer) and have a sword on his belt. He is wear ing very white make-up. He should be on the edges of the room or crowd to be gin with, but as they gather, he should be more ob vi ous. He never speaks. When the house is ready to open, the GHOST should beckon the au di ence in. Al ways si lently. First Sto ry teller (SAMANTHA) is stand ing downstage cen ter with her hands on her hips, look ing at the au di - ence as they come in. Two other Sto ry tellers (ERIC and JEN) flank her. SAM. Well, come on in, come on in. Don t be shy. Don t pay any at ten tion to him (in di cat ing the GHOST). He was a king, but he s dead. Just take your seats and we ll get started. Here! We ll give you a hand. (All three STO RY TELLERS jump down off the stage and whis tle back to ward the wings.) 9

12 10 HAM LET STO RY TELLERS. Come on, you guys. Lend a hand here. (Out from the wings stream all the ac tors, dressed var i - ously as sol diers, a stu dent (HAM LET), a king (CLAU - DIUS), a queen (GERTRUDE), an old man (POLO - NIUS), a young girl with flow ers in her hair (OPHE - LIA), a young man with a brief case or book satchel (LAERTES), etc. And the GHOST wan ders through them all. They go about help ing the au di ence to their seats, chat ting, show ing a bit of mild sword play here and there. When ever the GHOST passes the play ers, they stop talk ing and kneel be fore him then stand up and watch him pass, shak ing their heads. When all the au di ence is seated, we hear an other whis tle from SAM. All the play ers make their way back to the stage and off into the wings. The Ghost (OLD HAM - LET), CLAU DIUS, GERTRUDE and YOUNG HAM LET re main on stage, stand ing downstage right GERTRUDE hang ing on CLAU DIUS, HAM LET look ing dark and sul - len, the GHOST stand ing si lently. Downstage left stands POLONIUS, LAERTES and OPHELIA. SAM (to the au di ence). Well done!!! You guys are an or - derly bunch. Mostly. It s a good thing be cause the story we re gonna tell you to night is any thing BUT or derly. ERIC. The guy who told us the story is named Wil liam Shake speare. Ever heard of him? (If the au di ence sits there si lently, JEN says:)

13 JEN. Well, don t just sit there be ing or derly. Really. HAVE you ever heard of Wil liam Shake speare? (The STO RY TELLERS then prod the au di ence for a re - sponse.) SAM. Well, all right then. That s better. For those of you who don t know him, he wrote plays. JEN. And then he died. ERIC. Well, not BE CAUSE he wrote plays. SAM. He just got old. But this guy was one HECK of a sto ry teller. He lived about 400 years ago JEN. But we won t hold that against him. ERIC. So. The story we re gonna tell you to night is about THIS guy. (HAM LET waves sul lenly to the au di ence.) SAM. His name is Ham let, and if you check your pro gram closely, you ll see he s the main guy. You can tell cause Shake speare named the play af ter him. JEN. That s his mother, Ger trude (GERTRUDE waves) and his un cle Clau dius (CLAU DIUS sa lutes) and his father, Old Ham let, who s dead but still has a few things to say. OLD HAM LET Boo! or Does Fa ther Reeeeeeally Know Best? 11 ERIC. The story takes place in Den mark. SAM. But Shake speare did n t stop with just ONE dys func - tional Dan ish fam ily. He wrote about this other fam ily as well. There s old, wise, dotty Polonius, who s an ad -

14 12 HAM LET viser to the king and queen (POLONIUS waves) Ophelia, his daugh ter, who used to be kinda Ham let s girl friend (OPHELIA curt sies) and Laertes, his son (LAERTES bows briskly to the au di ence). JEN. So, see this story is ba si cally about these two fam i - lies. ERIC. Let s all say their names to gether so we ll re mem ber them as the story goes along. ALL THREE STO RY TELLERS. Ham let. (HAM LET waves again.) AU DI ENCE. Ham let. (The STO RY TELLERS go through each char ac ter s name, al ways prod ding the au di ence to par tic i pate by re peat ing the name. If they re slow to do it, SAM says some thing like:) SAM. Wha d ja think? You re gonna get a free ride here? Speak up!! (Af ter the name rec i ta tion, HORATIO co mes onto the stage.) SAM. Oh!! We for got some one. This is Horatio, Ham let s best friend from col lege. I don t wanta spoil it for you, but he s the only guy left stand ing at the end of this play, so re mem ber his face.

15 or Does Fa ther Reeeeeeally Know Best? 13 (HORATIO co mes downstage cen ter and pushes his face out to the au di ence. Then does pro files so the au di ence will re mem ber.) ERIC. OK. So say his name. Don t be shy: Horatio. AU DI ENCE. Horatio. JEN. I ve never seen a cuter au di ence. One more thing. Some times in our play, girls will be pre tend ing to be boys. Don t get bent out of shape. In Shake speare s day BOYS played ALL the parts. SAM. So it s pay back!! ERIC. All right, ac tors: PLACES!!! (All the ac tors run into the wings. The three STO RY - TELLERS take their places on var i ous lev els of step lad - ders. Two ac tors, who will act as SOL DIERS to the king, come on stage car ry ing two chairs fancy chairs to look like two thrones. CLAU DIUS and GERTRUDE sit on these. The SOL DIERS stand to the side. HAM LET lies on the floor with a book his back to his mother and step fa ther.) JEN. To be gin with, the old King Ham let has just died and right away, Ham let s mother Ger trude mar ries her dead hus band s brother Clau dius. ERIC. Like be fore you can blink. Whamo! Here s what Ham let says about that. HAM LET Thrift, thrift The funeral baked meats Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.

16 14 HAM LET JEN. Cool. The way he talks, huh? So any way, Clau dius, Ham let s un cle, be comes king. And Ham let thinks there s some thing fishy goin on. And he gets real gloomy about it. And the new king and queen keep buggin Ham let to snap out of it. Put on a happy face. CLAU DIUS Now Hamlet How is it that the clouds still hang on you? GERTRUDE Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off, And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. CLAU DIUS We pray you, throw to earth This unprevailing woe and think of US (CLAU DIUS in di cates him self.) As of a father. GERTRUDE Hamlet, I pray thee, stay with us. Go not to Wittenburg. ERIC. That s Ham let s col lege. HAM LET (sul lenly) I shall in all my best obey you, Madame. (The KING and QUEEN, the chairs and ac tors, go off stage. HAM LET stands alone.)

17 or Does Fa ther Reeeeeeally Know Best? 15 HAM LET O, that this too, too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew. That it should come to this: But two months dead nay, not so much, not two. Within a month a little month she married with my uncle. My father s brother, but no more like my father Than I to Hercules. But break my heart, for I must hold my tongue. SAM. But then his best friend Horatio co mes in to tell him that he s seen Old Ham let the ghost of Ham let s dad, the guy you just saw in the lobby wan der ing around on the bat tle ments of the cas tle. (Dur ing SAM s last speech, HAM LET walks around the cen ter of the stage with HORATIO, and the lat ter pan to - mimes tell ing him about see ing the GHOST.) HAM LET I will watch tonight. Perchance twill walk again. I ll speak to it, though hell itself should gape And bid me hold my peace. (HORATIO bows to HAM LET and walks off.) HAM LET My father s spirit in arms! All is not well. I doubt some foul play. (HAM LET runs off stage.)

18 16 HAM LET SAM. Mean time Laertes is about to go off to col lege. He s packed up his clothes and his i-pod (or i-mac or i-phone or what ever s hip) and now he s talk ing to his lit tle sis ter Ophelia. Giving her the old broth erly ad vice. LAERTES For Hamlet, and the trifling of his favor Perhaps he loves you now, But you must fear; his will is not his own. Then keep you in the rear of your affection, Out of the shot and danger of desire. OPHELIA I shall the effect of this good lesson keep As watchman to my heart. (POLONIUS co mes to ward them.) POLONIUS Yet here, Laertes? There, my blessing with thee. Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. ERIC. Oh boy. Now Laertes gets the ad vice. POLONIUS Neither a borrower nor a lender be, For loan oft loses both itself and friend. This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. Farewell. My blessing season this in thee.

19 or Does Fa ther Reeeeeeally Know Best? 17 LAERTES Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord. Farewell, Ophelia, and remember well What I have said to you. OPHELIA Tis in my memory locked, And you yourself shall keep the key of it. (LAERTES ex its. POLONIUS looks at OPHELIA.) POLONIUS What is it, Ophelia, he hath said to you? OPHELIA So please you, something touching the Lord Hamlet. POLONIUS Ah! Tis told me he hath very oft of late Given private time to you ALL THREE STO RY TELLERS. UH-OH!!! OPHELIA He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders Of his affection to me. POLONIUS Affection, puh!!!!

20 18 HAM LET SAM. Did you hear that? Puh!! It s that kinda thing makes you know, Shake speare is right down there in the street with the rest of us. Puh!! POLONIUS From this time, Be something scanter of your maiden presence. Do not believe his vows. Give not words or talk with the Lord Hamlet. OPHELIA I shall obey, my lord. (OPHELIA and POLONIUS exit.) JEN. See no body ar gued with their dad back then. No. I think dads are more rea son able to day. Let s hear it for our dads!! (STO RY TELLERS goad the au di ence into cheer ing the dads in the house.) ERIC. Mean while, back on the par a pets of the cas tle, Ham - let and Horatio and an other sol dier, Marcellus, are keep - ing the watch and look ing for the ghost of Ham let s fa - ther. (In deed, HAM LET, HORATIO and MARCELLUS come on stage with swords drawn.) SAM. It s get ting late and they ve been wan der ing around the cas tle for tress for hours with no luck.

21 A WORD ABOUT PRO DUC TION DESIGN Think child s pick-up game. Cut-off broom sticks for swords, a drum stick strike on a trash can lid for the sound of clash ing swords, cut-out card board for crowns, lad ders for the cas tle par a pet. A painted SEAL OF THE KING can sug gest the cas tle, which is ba si cally where all the ac tion takes place. Ev ery thing should come out of the imag i na tions of the kids and what s at hand in clud ing ba sic cos tumes. DON T RENT FANCY COS TUMES. Ba sic black pants and black shirts, which a child can bring from home, should be the pal let from which cre ation be gins. Then add a bright scarf and skirt for the queen, some thing me tal lic-look ing for the king, fake flow ers for Ophelia s hair and a pretty skirt. Sim ple. Stuff they can scav enge from home. I ve been in volved in high- and low-end pro duc tions of these plays and, be lieve me, an overly or nate pro duc tion hurts the ef fect. It should all look like chil dren pull ing to - gether their ver sion of the story. A note about hel mets for the two guards. A plas tic gal lon milk con tainer is ideal: cut off the spout and about two inches of the car ton; cut off the front where the han dle is (for the per son s face); cut four lines up from the bot tom about two inches (the plastic will curl out); color with grey me tal lic paint (for use on plas tic). VOILA!! A medieval hel met! 58

22 Safe sword play: use wooden swords no sharp, pointy ends. The ba sics are thrust ing and block ing the thrust. Plan it like the steps of a dance and have them rehearse it be fore ev ery per for mance. PROP LIST 3 step lad ders Hel met for Old Ham let 6 or 7 wooden swords (half broom sticks will do) 2 foils (thin ner swords) Plas tic flow ers (Ophelia s mad scene) 2 crowns Brief case or satchel Laertes 2 chairs (thrones) 1 book Ham let Large pic ture of the Globe Thea tre in Lon don 2 large ferns A pair of over sized bin oc u lars Vial of poi son 1 ar ras (a small, im i ta tion Oriental rug will do) 5 or 6 tomb stones (card board or foam board) 2 shov els Fu neral sheet Ophelia Big, round pearl 2 gob lets or cups 59